For John Calipari, getting revenge against the Kansas Jayhawks was a must after losing to them four years ago in the National Championship when he was the head coach of the Memphis Tigers. Now with Kentucky, Calipari finally won the big thing, as they beat Kansas 67-59 to become 2012's National Champions.
"I wanted everybody to see, we were the best team this season," said Calipari. "We were the best team. I wanted this to be one for the ages."
For Anthony Davis, he didn't have to steal the show with flashy scoring. In fact, he wasn't good at all, going 1-of-10 with six points. But he didn't have to score, he had his teammates. Davis did the rebounding and superb defense and his teammates did the scoring. With that plan, Kentucky won it's eighth National Championship, second behind UCLA's ten.
Davis' presence and the way he played down low set the tone for the Wildcats to win. Davis would end up with 16 rebounds, five assists, and six blocks. When Kentucky was unable to have the shot fall, they made up for it with strong defense.
"Well, it's not me, it's these guys behind me," Davis said. "They led us this whole tournament. This whole game, I was struggling offensively, and I told my team, every time down, you all score the ball; I'm just gonna defend and rebound."
It was a block party.
Kentucky would end up with eleven blocks, but it shouldn't have came to a surprise after how they have been playing all season, leading the nation in that category.
However, down 59-44 after Davis' first field goal make, the Jayhawks started storming back, going on a huge run and eventually trailed 62-57. Thomas Robinson help lead the way along with some big three's by Elijah Johnson and Tyshawn Taylor. Robinson would finish with an awesome game, scoring 18 points with 17 rebounds.
However, with just about 30 seconds remaining and down by six, Kansas had one last chance to make a strong comeback, something they have done throughout the whole tournament. Johnson had the ball, but Davis' presence stopped anything from happening, making the point guard travel. He would still shoot the ball, but it didn't count.
After that, it was game over.
John Calipari finally got the monkey off his back. What's he gonna do next?
"What I'm hoping is there are six first-rounders on this team," the coach said. "I'm fine with that. That's why I've got to go recruiting on Friday."
